Jinmenjuushin no Gakidou
by Kira The Forgotten
Summary: Kushina tried to escape with Naruto from the Leaf Village. In her attempt to get her son away from his father she leaves him to be raised by bantits? What kind of man will Naruto grow up to be?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Kushina gasped for breath, lungs burning as she stood over the two now dead ROOT Anbu ninjas. Pain seared up and down her left leg whenever she put weight on it. Gritting her teeth, she left the room silently. Kushina had to get to her son, to take him away from this place while she had the chance.

"_Minato-kun, you don't need to push Naruto so hard. He's only three after all."_

"_He's a big boy, he can take it." Kushina shook her head at her husband, "He's going to be the one who protects the Village someday."_

"_Him and every other leaf ninja."_

"Mommy?" Naruto looked up from playing with his toy kunai.

Kushina put on a smile for him, "Hey Naru-kun. We are going to play a ninja game okay?" She knew this wasn't something she should try to explain to him. How would she tell her son that they were going to be running away from his own father?

"_Naruto will be the great power who keeps us in peace. No one will attack the Leaf when he grows up."_

"_Nani?"_

Naruto grinned happily as he clung to his mother's back. They were 'running away', trying to see how far away they could get from home before they were caught.

Kushina ran as fast as she could, trying to put as much distance between them and the Leaf Village. Convincing Naruto to be quiet was the easy part, ninja's had to carry out their missions in silence, this was just another game to him. But to Kushina, it was very real.

Every other step made her leg throb more, the pain becoming numbing as she ran. Wounds from her earlier battle stung painfully as she moved. High in the tress she darted from shadow to shadow, avoiding any and all chances of being seen from the Village walls, she didn't want to be noticed, nor found missing until she was well away from Konoha.

"_You're beginning to sound like Naruto's a weapon."_

"_He will be, all ninja's are weapons." Kushina narrowed her eyes at Minato dangerously. He knew how she felt about such things._

"_All ninja's are human, with morals and dreams. You can't make him become something he isn't or doesn't want to be."_

"_But he's already a weapon."_

Kushina paused for a moment to catch her breath before plunging into the dense forest. "How are you holding up Naru-kun?"

"Fine, I want to run to." Naruto whispered, happy they hadn't been caught yet. That meant the game was still on.

"Not yet, you can run if you still want to when it starts to get lighter ok? I don't want you to hurt yourself in the dark." Kushina compromised, they needed to widen the distance as much as possible now.

"_Naruto isn't a weapon, he's your son!"_

"_I sealed the Kyuubi inside of him. That sealed his fate, he's going to be a weapon and he's going to learn how to control the demon inside of him. He will be able to control it better than that Killer Bee from Kumo. Don't you see what I'm trying to do? I'm trying to make the world a better place for him in the long run Kushina. Better for our family."_

"_Better for our family? You're turning our son into a weapon for kami's sake, beyond what a ninja is considered as a weapon."_

Kushina grit her teeth against the pain, her conversation with Minato ringing in her ears. Reminding her why she was running in the first place. Her resolve began to numb the pain, her mind focusing solely on getting Naruto away from such a future. She had always been a strong believer in letting people decide their own fates, despite the common belief that it was already decided at birth. And she would stop at nothing to make sure her only son would have the same chance of picking his own future as well.

"_Danzo, what do you think of this?" Kushina demanded, turning on the senior ninja, looking for any kind of support. Even from the leader of ROOT._

"_I believe Lord Hokage is making the right decision. Not only is he securing the safety of the village, but he is also making sure that the Kyuubi doesn't overpower your son and go on a rampage." Danzo responded dully. _

"_Exactly!" Minato shouted, throwing his hands into the air. _

"I think I heard someone behind us." Naruto whispered, Kushina stiffened trusting her son not to be playing around.

"Are you sure?"

"Hai!"

Kushina groaned silently, they had caught onto her too fast, Minato would be following in a matter of seconds once their pursuers caught up. They needed to lose them fast. Jumping to the forest floor Kushina began moving faster than before, panic fueling her muscles to work harder, to endure the pain while she fled.

"_If you continue to treat Naruto this way I swear I'll take him and run away from this Village."_

"_And go where? Your home Village was destroyed in the last war. This is your home now Kushina." Minato growled, this conversation was growing old fast. "You aren't going anywhere with my son."_

"_I'll go anywhere that will keep Naruto from becoming a weapon for your personal uses."_

Kushina cried out in shock as her foot caught on a tree root, sending both her and Naruto crashing to the ground. While Naruto remained fairly unharmed by the fall, his mother taking most of the damage, Kushina landed heavily on her side and stomach, reopening a bloody wound won from her battle with the ROOT Anbu.

The three year old's smile faded once he caught sight of the blood seeping through his mother's shirt. This game wasn't fun anymore.

"Mommy, you're bleeding." the young boy whispered, scared by the crimson liquid. Out of all the ninja in the world, only his parents were totally indestructible. So why was she bleeding so much?

Kushina smiled grimly, covering the pain the best she could. "I'm fine, really. Mommy just needs a quick rest." She shrugged off her jacket, ripping portions of it into strips and wrapping them around her middle. Creating a make-shift bandage that would last until they got to a small village.

"I don't like this game anymore, can we go home?"

"_How would you stop me from taking my son? You are rarely home because of your Hokage duties!" Kushina demanded furiously, she didn't mind that he was out a lot due to his job, he was loved by everyone. "Your jounin would let me do as I please no matter what you said."_

"_I'm putting you under watch Kushina. You and Naruto from now on, Danzo will select two ROOT members to oversee you. To make sure you don't do anything rash. I wouldn't want you to weaken the Village or become a threat to us." Minato growled just as furiously as his wife._

"Over there!"

Kushina jumped, the voice was close, they couldn't afford to lose anymore time. Scooping Naruto into her arms she darted into the trees, plunging deeper into the forest praying that she would lose her followers.

"Stop!" Kushina grunted in pain as kunai where embedded into her back, but she didn't stop. She made comforting sounds to Naruto as he started to cry, trying to calm him.

"_Who are you? You aren't the man I thought I married."_

Kushina was caught, surrounded by three ROOT Anbu. Clutching her son to her chest she bared her teeth at the men who were ready to do anything to bring back the Kyuubi child. Even kill the wife of the Hokage if necessary.

"_Sometimes war changes a person Kushina."_

Naruto dropped to the ground, running towards a tree his mother had pointed out to him as a safe place to hide while she took care of the Anbu. One of the ninja tried to get a hold of him as he ran by but was stooped by a harsh kick from Kushina. The three year old watched terrified as his mother fought viciously with the Anbu. Unable to tear his eyes away as two of them were killed, the third strangling her as he coward, tears running uncontrollably down his face.

"_I don't think that even war could have changed a person this much."_

Something inside of Naruto snapped. Without knowing why, he darted out of his hiding place, screaming as he ran towards his dying mother.

"Whoa there gaki, I don't think you'd want to be interfering in this." Naruto crumpled to the ground motionless, a man standing over him grimaced. "Didn't mean to hit him so hard."

"No!" Kushina choked out, vision fading as the Anbu's grip loosened on her. The man dove forward, cutting into the Anbu's side viciously. Blood spilled from the wound in waves, drenching his clothes. Kushina took her last chance to cut the Anbu's throat, letting him drop dead in front of her as she slid down a tree trunk.

"You okay lady?"

"I'm dying, do you think I'm okay?" Kushina growled weakly, slipping a ring off of her finger, eyes fixing on her son. "You didn't kill him did-"

"No, he should be fine. Just hit him a lil to hard tha's all." The man grunted roughly. "Since yer dyin' and all, is there anything I can do as a last wish? Since I'm going to loot your corpse. Sorry it's my trade as a bandit." He grinned cheekily.

Kushina's dull mind slowly processed this information. "Would you then, give this to my son and take him away from here? I don't want his father to find him. Just get him away."

The bandit blinked slowly at her, taking the ring from her fingers carefully. He looked back at the small boy unconscious on the ground, he'd always wanted a kid of his own, but couldn't seam to managed finding a wife who would stand by him as he continued his life as a bandit. He shrugged to himself, the boy was old enough to manage on his own for short amounts of time. Didn't need to be constantly babysat like a baby would. Hell all of that had already been taken care of by his real parents.

"Sure, what's his name lady?"

Kushina smiled faintly, "He's three years old and his names N-"

She never finished her last sentence, her consciousness abandoning her as soon as she confirmed Naruto would be taken away from his father's clutched soon. The man looked at her mournfully, and closed her eyes. Pocketing the ring he looted the other corpses, taking weapons and other valuables they had on them. Deciding to leave Kushina alone to die in peace he scooped Naruto up on his shoulders and lumbered away, whistling quietly to himself as he vanished into the thicket.

* * *

_Challenge: 1,ooo - 2,ooo words_

_Word Count: 1,858_

**Reveiw as always readers. And check out FalseIdentity's version of the story. Same story idea intentionally meant to test our writing abilities, so it's not stolen from either of us. It's done intentionally. We even have a coupla rules in place which I will not post until the last chapter and whatnot. **  
**Questions? Feel free to ask 'em whenever you like. I'll get back to you when I do.**

**Her version **.net/s/5869456/1/Banditti_are_the_New_Nnja

**4/4/2o1o, 11:48 pm**

**Edited 4/5/2o1o**


	2. Chp 1: Eighteen Years Later

Chapter One: Eighteen Years Later

"It's been eighteen years Kakashi." Minato said quietly as his silver haired student slipped into the Hokage's office. "Eighteen long years since I lost my wife and son. Is this how you felt when you lost Obito and Rin?"

Kakashi kept his mouth shut, Minato had that lost look in his eyes, the kind that told a person he was reliving some part of his past. He knew all to well why Kushina had attempted to run away, he was one of few, sworn to secrecy by the Hokage. Kakashi waited patiently for Minato to come back to reality, it was the anniversary of Kushina's death after all.

Coming out of his memories at the sound of steps outside his office Minato sat up straighter in his chair, "Anyway. I have good news Kakashi. Jiraya has turned up some lasting proof of Naruto's location."

Kakashi blinked in surprise, every time Jiraya had come up with proof that Naruto was alive, much less where the child was the trail went cold soon after Anbu were sent to investigate. He had thought that Minato had given up faith in Jiraya, not that the sannin was out looking for the child specifically anyway. Most of the time the silver haired sannin was keeping tabs on criminal organizations that were quickly becoming threats to the peace of the nation.

"Where is he?"

"Currently he's been in the Wind Country, moving southeast." Minato explained, "Jiraya found several boys who looked to be the age Naruto would be and share his characteristics. This could be another false lead, Naruto could look completely different now then when he was three years old but there should be some family resemblance left." The blond Hokage smiled to himself, letting a small glimmer of hope start to burn in his heart.

"Are you going to send me after them?" Kakashi asked, thinking it would be a good chance to get out of the Village for awhile. His students were becoming tedious pains in the ass the longer he stayed around them.

Minato shook his head, "No, I've already assigned it to Anko, she is already assigned to a mission the area. I'm having an Anbu deliver it to her specifically. What I want you to do is to visit regularly to keep tabs on her. She needs to confirm which boy is my son before bringing him back to the village." Minato pulled out a folder and handed it Kakashi silently before continuing. "This is the boy I'm sending Anko to investigate. Jiraya sent me the information, not that there was much more then a location and a general description with a picture. A couple of things about the habbits Jiraya learned about before he continued on with his current mission. Kami knows he's probably peeping on a woman's bath house at this moment. But I can't ask more from the old man. He _is_ retired after all."

Kakashi opened the folder and glanced over the picture silently, true the boy looked as though he had some resemblance to Minato. Sun kissed blond hair was long enough to be pulled back into a small ponytail, the boy wore torn jeans and a orange hoodie, the sleeves had been ripped off however. Kakashi could make out studs in the boy's left ear, and a partial tattoo spreading from the left shoulder, to halfway down the bicep.

But it was the icy cerulean eyes peering over black sunglasses that made Kakashi hesitate. It looked as though the boy knew Jiraya had been taking pictures and was taking his own at that very moment, peering into the camera lens.

* * *

"Usotsuki* move yer ass over to the left some why don't 'cha?"

Usotsuki flinched at the sound of his superior's voice. "Hai Gakidou*!" He kicked his horse, forcing it to move in the direction the blond had asked. Although Gakidou was at least ten years his junior then twenty-one year old had already made a name for himself in the bandit world.

"Are you ready for this? The Skulls may have hired ninja to fight this battle for them."

Gakidou snorted, icy blue eyes watching the arrival of the Skulls in question with a demonic air of pleasure at the idea, "I can take on the weakling ninja those baboons would be able to hire. There is no threat in that. Besides it doesn't look as though they went to those extremes Pops, they have their own weapons on them this time."

"_Jinmenjuushin* no Gakidou_" Gakidou looked at the speaker who called him by his title so formally, "You have crossed the line this time. Because you are twenty one and young we were patient with your arrogant attitude, but not anymore. You will suffer a painful death for killing sixteen of our own."

"So you had me bring this lot as witnesses to my death?" Gakidou asked bordly, this wasn't the first time a battle like this had happened. For as long as he could remember the blond had lived with a group of bandits loyal to his father and now himself. Many had tried to claim his life but only ended their own in grotesque manners. "Fine whatever, what are your terms to this battle to the death?"

The raven hared speaker gave the blond a look of pure disgust as Gakidou dismounted his horse and lit a cigarette. "Mano 'a mano. Any weapon you want, no shirts or shoes, you against my best man."

Gakidou shrugged off his orange hoodie, excited at the idea of a one on one fight to the death. No interference from the spectators. He kicked off his shoes and pulled on a special set of brass knuckles. The top of each knuckle was adorned with a small but sharp stud, the metal reinforced so it wouldn't break should it make contact with metal or other hard objects that weren't human flesh. It was his weapon of choice for any fight. Despite the fact he carried a short sword with him everywhere in case he was faced with more then five opponents at once.

His opponent was large and built like a building. Tattoos of naked women running up and down his arms and back made Gakidou grunt in displeasure, obviously this man wasn't getting laid if he had to wear those tattoos to get any kind of interest from a woman, even if it was scorn.

"Are you ready to die today big guy?" Gakidou asked curiously, adrenaline pumping through his veins already. He couldn't wait to get started, it had been a week since his last bloody fight. This one was looking quite promising to be bloody.

Usotsuki turned to the older man sitting on a horse next to him, " Are the rumors about him true?"

The man gave Usotsuki a bored glance before going back to watch the fight, "Which rumors are you referring to?"

"Well is he really a demon? The rumors say he can move as fast if not faster then most ninja, but he's never trained a day of his life to become one. And that one punch can break people's skull's?" Usotsuki asked quickly, looking from the man to Gakidou fighting.

Gakidou crouched low under a enormous fist swinging harmlessly over his head, taking advantage of the opening he moved faster then Usotsuki could follow and delivered a series of hard punched to his opponents mid section, leaving behind bloody holes in the skin.

"Well since I'm the baka's father I can honestly say that he is not a demon, well at least not possessed by one. He's always been a tad bit blood thirsty at times I'm afraid." The old man grunted, lighting his own cigarette. "As far as I know the only training he's done has been how to pick pocket without being obvious about it, and of course he's had some training on how to fight." He chuckled, "Well if you call getting kicked around by the other bandits until he learned how to fight properly, training."

Usotsuki tore his eyes away from the sight of Gakidou holding the much larger fighter in a headlock, turning the man's face bluer and bluer the longer he was held. Gakidou's eyes shone with demonic glee, mouth twisted up in a leering grin.

"What do you think you are waiting around for onna! Kill him!" the man in Gakidou's choke hold demanded weakly. Gakidou frowned, what was he talking about?

Pain blossomed in the back of his skull, stunning Gakidou enough to loosen his grip on his victim. "Kuso!" the blond whipped around to glare at his attacker.

A purple haired woman stood behind him looked anything but intimidated by Gakidou's presence. Pale brown eyes bored into cold cerulean for a moment before they vanished. Gakidou blinked confused, the woman had been there a second ago.

"A bit slow ain't cha?"

Gakidou bit back a furious retort and spun around, the man he was fighting was now gasping for breath, hiding behind the woman who saved him from certain death. _'Coward,' _Gakidou thought, memorizing the man's face, _'needing to be saved by a ninja, a woman nonetheless. I'll make sure to kill him later.'_

"Well when compared to a ninja I guess I could be called slow." Gakidou grunted turning his full attention to the woman in front of him. "Now I guess you are my new opponent? Or has this battle been called to an early end and I am to come kill that big lug behind you later?"

The woman's lips turned up into a small smile, "You are smarter then you look." She ran forward, drawing a kunie with the full intention of slicing his throat to end it quickly.

"Hey that's-!" Usotsuki was cut off by Hirou's hand clapping over his mouth.

Hirou glared hard at he new bandit, "Urusai, cheating is part of the game. But Gakidou doesn't like cheating, at least not when there's a good fight involved otherwise. So if you have any plans to live another day don't get in the middle of this." Usotuki nodded, afraid the old man would kill him before Gakidou would have the chance.

Gakidou moved faster then she thought he could, obviously he had been holding back when fighting a common bandit. "So what's your name?" she narrowed her eyes at him, he had caught her wrist in a painfully tight grip, not that she was going to let him know it.

"Mitarashi* Anko*, and you are more then you appear to be." Anko growled, his grip was stronger then a normal bandits, but not quite as strong a a ninja's. If he had been properly trained in a ninja village, he would be a serious problem.

Gakidou chuckled, "I'm a simple bandit who has no reason to hurt a pretty face like yours. However you are working for the Skulls aren't you?" Anko kicked him hard in the middle, freeing her wrist.

_'He doesn't look too affected by that kick at all. So why did he just let me go?'_ She watched him from a safer distance further away. The blond didn't move, but his eyes followed her everywhere she moved. Trying to get out of his sight. '_Simple bandit my ass, he shouldn't be able to follow my movements like that.'_

"Baka, if you aren't going to kill her or kill the fool who started this then let's go. I'm thirsty and my butt is starting to hurt from sitting in this saddle for too long." Hirou called, this didn't feel right. If the Skulls had hired one ninja they probably had more hiding in case the woman started to have some trouble with Gakidou. And from the looks of it, the blond had lost his will to fight seriously after the woman had made her appearance. _'That's the last time I teach anyone chivalry.'_ He thought glumly, no man should lose his life over that.

Gakidou grunted in acknowledgment, he didn't want to walk away from an unfinished fight but something felt off. He couldn't put his finger on it but there was something defiantly off in the way Anko was moving. Circling him, trying to draw him into the trees like a predator luring her prey.

"They're running away!" Usotsuki shouted, breaking Gakidou's concentration for a split second. The Skulls were indeed running away from the fight.

Gakidou cursed furiously, running back to his own horse with the intention of going after them. "Where do you think you are going!" Anko demanded, throwing kunie at him.

"Damn onna." Gakidou growled furiously, ripping a knife from his shoulder without flinching. His vision started to take on a red tinge, Gakidou knew he had to leave before he ended up killing his own father by accident. "I'm leaving Porcupine!" He turned to Hirou, "I'll be back later, need to work off some steam."

Hirou nodded, understanding what he meant and let the blond race past him. He picked up Gakidou's shirt and shoes, and turned his back on the woman in the trees. If she was smart, she wouldn't chase after the blond.

Anko started to go after Gakidou, angry with herself for letting him get a head start on her, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. "Wait."

"Damn it. Fucking ANBU sneaking up on me like that. What do you want. I'm in the middle of a mission." Anko growled, watching Gakidou get farther and farther away while the ANBU took his time in getting a folder out of his cloak.

The ANBU 'tsked' and handed Anko the folder, "You cannot kill that man. If that is your current mission objective you are to abort immediately." Anko scowled, eyes silently demanding why. "That man is quite possibly Lord Hokage's missing son Naruto. You're new mission is to find out if he really is Lord Hokage's son. And if you cannot accurately confirm it but everything seams to say that he is indeed the missing son then you are to bring him to the Leaf Village as soon as possible so he can be tested to find the truth."

"You do know that that man is in fact Jinmenjuushin no Gakidou? I don't think there is any chance that he could be even remotely related to the Yondaime." Anko flipped through the mostly empty file, "He's a rising figure head in the bandit society. He could pose a problem to a lot of civilian villages in the near future if war breaks out."

The ANBU simply shrugged, "Don't tell me this. If you have a problem with it take it up with the Hokage. I mean if you really want to tell him that you aren't going to look into the closest chance of finding his missing son." Anko grimaced, "On the anniversary of Kushina's disappearance and everything."

"All right, just stop it already Yamamoto. You really suck sometimes you know that?" Anko replied, mind working to figure out a way to work her way into Gakidou's confidence now that he knew that she was a ninja already. "You can tell Lord Hokage that I've already made contact and will start working my way into his confidence if possible." _'He already knows I'm a ninja.'_

Yamamoto nodded and vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind a grumpy Anko.

* * *

_Challenge: 25oo words +_

_Word Count: 2611_

**Thank you HonorGuard Ra, Fenir, Vendetta419, and Floflo for reveiwing. And I know a lot more have favorited this story and added it to thier alert lists. I know becuase my email was spammed horribly by FanFiction telling me so. I want to hear from all of you too.  
Review's are welcomed with an open mind by me. But needless insults that are not meant as constructive critisism are not welcomed.**

**FalseIdentity's Version: .net/s/5869456/2/Banditti_are_the_New_Ninja**

**4/25/2o1o - o1:39pm **

* * *

Usotsuki* - Liar  
Gakidou* - Hungry devil  
Jinmenjuushin* - Beast in human form  
Hirou* - Wickedness  
Mitarashi* - A type of sweet rice cake  
Anko* - Red bean paste


	3. Chp: 3 Forge Your Own Path

**Chapter 2: Forge Your Own Path**

Gakidou sat to the side away from the other bandits in his gang, watching the sun set behind a town he had just robbed with a sense of restlessness stirring within him. The blond couldn't help it, he didn't like to sit still. There was always something to be doing out in the world. He knew that there were times when one should stand back and take a break but very rarely did Gakidou feel the need to do so, much less act upon that urge.

"Did you really have to kill them all?"

The blond eyed his father warily, unsure if the old man was going to lecture him for going on another rampage or talk to him about his future again. Neither was a conversation Gakidou wanted to have. "They aren't all dead. Only the ones who ran about trying to kill me."

Hirou 'tsked' and sat down, "Which would have been everyone in the Skulls hideout."

"No, there were women and children there. I didn't kill them, or the men who were simply defending their families. They weren't attacking me for the sake of attacking me." Gakidou argued, lighting a cigarette, "I went in, killed the big fool who thought he had gotten away from our fight, and their leader for thinking he could buy shinobi to kill me and I was going to leave it at that. But there were a couple of people who were there who just didn't seam to like me killing off their leader and wanted some revenge."

Hirou sighed heavily and took a swig of his drink, "Alright, we obviously you can handle your own enemies without need us to watch your back for you." Gakidou tensed, this wasn't going in a direction he thought it would. Nor did he like were it was going. "I think it's finally time for you to leave."

"Nani?" Gakidou snarled, rounding on his father, was he really trying to get rid of him? Hirou had never had a problem with the way he had taken care of his own business before. Even when occasionally it had dragged the entire gang into battle. No one had complained, in fact they had always told him not to mind. That's what they were there for, a fall back group for him to lean on when he needed to.

"You obviously don't need us to watch your back anymore Gakidou. You can handle your own problems and you are an alpha leader in your own right." Hirou said in even tones, "Men like you can't stand being under someone else's thumb despite the amount of freedom that comes with it. Because in the very end you are still a dog on a leash. Take this chance to leave and wander the world to your hearts content." Hirou stood, looking down on his son with hard eyes, he didn't want to cast away the son he had adopted, the blond might as well be his son by blood after everything the two went through as parent and child, friends, near brothers, then back to the safe father son relationship. He couldn't let any of that hinder him now, it was time Gakidou knew the truth about where he came from and moved on in his life. "Come with me gaki."

Gakidou leaped to his feet, anger trickling into his veins slowly with each step he took after his father into the camp. The open hostility felt from his fellow bandits threw him for a loop. Had he done something to piss off the entire camp without his knowledge? Was it the gang and not his father that wanted him cast out? Gakidou bared his teeth in response to the hostile looks shot his way, tensing uncomfortably in the unfamiliar air of being a sheep among wolves.

Hirou held open the flap to his tent and waited for Gakidou to go in before casting a warning glance over the entire camp, warning them to keep to themselves before following Gakidou inside. Gakidou sat himself down in his normal place by the bed mat, which gave him perfect surveillance over everything in the tent. Sitting across from the blond, Hirou picked up a deck of cards and began to shuffle them silently, considering the many ways to start a conversation. Deciding a gentle delicate way did not suit him nor the blond he opted for blunt approach.

"You were adopted." Gakidou stared at Hirou confused, he was what? "Stolen doesn't fit the way I took you in son." Hirou continued, dealing the deck out in two equal piles and motioned for Gakidou to take his half of the deck. "The story that I raped your mother and decided to keep you when she died in childbirth is a total lie."

"Then how did you 'adopt' me?" Gakidou asked, Hirou wasn't he kind of man to lie about such things. Especially now when he was kicking him out of the group and had no further reason to lie. Gakidou had always known that there was nothing that really linked himself and Hirou together as father and son, but ignored it. Assuming he took after his mother in just about every way possible, or that he just didn't look like either of his parents.

"I had wandered away from the group one night, looking for something to occupy my time. Mostly a woman. And I found one." Hirou tossed a card into the growing pile in the middle of the table waiting for a pair to slap. "And I found a woman alright. Locked in combat him other shinobi. I was tempted to walk away and let them kill each other, after all I had no reason to interfere in shinobi buissness. But it was a beautiful battle to watch. Three on one. Your mother was out matched and out numbered but she fought like a demon. I stayed trying to figure out why she didn't just make a run for it, to try and out run her opponents. I knew she would have a better chance of survival running and keeping her attackers on guard in the trees. Where there were more places to hide and lay the traps that shinobi do. Then I heard the reason why." Hirou looked Gakidou dead in the eye, "You were there, hiding and watching her fight for the two of you. She killed two of her attackers, but was seriously wounded. And finally she was in a choke hold against a tree, dying. You snapped, ran out screaming like a little devil yourself. I hit you on the head, meaning to stop you, not to knock you out. I don't hurt three year old children with the intent to seriously hurt them. I stabbed the shinobi attacking your mother, to this day it still bothers me that I was able to do that. Why didn't he just move out of the way? There was no way he didn't hear me coming, I had spoken aloud to you. But anyway he stumbled away from your mother after that and she slit his throat. In some weird way I wanted to be a little kind to this dying woman. Even though she was spirited to the end, giving me attitude right away. I told her that I intended to rob her when she died and she didn't bat and eye at me when I said that. But what really threw me was when she asked me to take you away. To keep you away from your father. I did what she asked because I at the time wanted a son for myself, because I didn't have one and there weren't any women around who would willingly bear a bandit a son, much less travel with him. Before she died she gave me a ring to give to you," Hirou reached into the collar of his shirt and produced a thin chained necklace, handing from it was a simple silver ring. "She said you were three and died before she could tell me your given name."

Gakidou stared at the ring, mind reeling. He had the occasional dream of such events, hiding in a tree as a red headed woman fought and died with shinobi. The blond had always assumed it was a dream, nothing more and he quickly forgot it afterwards anyway. Nothing that bothered him to much. But Hirou was telling him about his dream, no his memory. If Hirou knew so much detail about a dream he had never been told about then it was real, Hirou wasn't lying to him.

Hirou eyed Gakidou curiously, this wasn't the way he expected the hot headed blond to react. He had been expecting some violent form of denial and perhaps some death threats. Not the deadly calm look in icy blue eyes that were so entrapped but the simple ring he was holding in front of him. "When you woke up, you had a case of amnesia which suited everyone just fine, we didn't need a screaming little brat running around with us until you calmed down and accepted the reality around you. It was easier to lie to you than to explain the truth, a truth that I didn't want to tell until you were ready."

"Have I been kept around in pity?"

The older man's anger flared up in response immediately, "I do not take in people out of pity Gakidou and you know it! I took you in because I was greedy and wanted a son. I kept you and raised you because I loved you like a son. I kept the truth from you because I didn't want you to hear it until you were ready because I saw you as my very own son. There is nothing more to it than that."

Blue eyes remained fixed on the ring as Hirou took the necklace off and handed it to him. The blond stared at the simple silver ring. A quarter of an inch wide, a little thicker than most rings but he figured it was made to last through battle since all shinobi fought for their lives on a constant basis. The inside was engraved with "_Forge your own path_", Gakidou thought that it was something his father had engraved for his mother. A sign perhaps that she was a free spirit like he was who preferred to choose her own fate.

"Thanks. I have had dreams of that, seeing my mother getting killed and all. But I always thought it was a dream. I guess that's why I'm taking this so calmly." Gakidou muttered under his breath, finally putting out his cigarette that threatened to burn his lips should he let it burn more.

Hirou crossed his arms over his chest, "I know you want some time to think about this and you can have that time. After you leave to go out on your own. Your place is no longer here, apart of this gang."

"Why are you making me leave if I'm such a son to you!" Gakidou demanded, going on the defensive immediately, Hirou had just admitted that he was a son to him, so why was he pushing him away so hard? Especially after telling him where he really came from.

"Because you don't belong here Gakidou! You are the son of shinobi, no doubt powerful ones. Your presence is drawing the attention of other shinobi. And don't you dare tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about. You know as well as I that the number of ninja we run into is increasing by the month. You can fight them on even grounds, and win. But the rest of us can't. You are a danger to us now and we can't allow you to stay with us because of that." Hirou growled furiously, hiding the pain it was causing him to push Gaikidou away, "Do what ever you wish with your life, but you can't drag the rest of us down with you!"

Gakidou scoffed just as angrily, "I can take care of myself! The gang shouldn't worry about that."

"What if they wise up and start killing us? You don't belong here anyway, you are too strong, too fast, you are more of a demon then even the most sadistic of yakuza here. And what ever it is that makes you literally turn into a demon, makes that red aura come over you like a fox, that's not normal. I don't even think it's normal for shinobi." Hirou stood up and grabbed Gakidou's bag, something he had already packed for him. "I want you out of here son. Go out and make your own yakuza gang if you so wish, but you cannot stay here. You are no longer welcome here if you mean to stay. In the future if you wish to stay for a few days and visit than you are allowed. But that's it."

Gakidou rose to his feet as his bag was thrown in his face, all pleasantries between father and son dropped now and the only thing he could feel coming from his 'father' was open hostility. It bothered him that this was happening so soon without warning but it was obvious he had no say in the matter. Gakidou had to much respect for Hirou to challenge him for leadership of the gang. Not if there was a chance of being murdered in his sleep in part of a mutiny to put Hirou back in charge.

He let himself be pushed out of the tent and right into his horse, apparently the gang was in on it because they had packed the rest of his things for him and saddled his horse for him. Leaving it outside of the tent so he wouldn't have to stay longer than necessary.

Gakidou ground his teeth together, this was the last straw, if they wanted him to leave so bad then he would. No point in throwing a tantrum that would only hurt his pride and have him leaving, licking his wounds like a dog with it's tail between it's legs. Holding his head high he shouldered his pack and mounted his horse. Looking for the most part that this whole matter was beneath him and didn't deserve a reaction.

He cast one last angry look at his father, whose face was as stony as the men around him and kicked his horse hard. Spurring it into a gallop to get away from those hostile faces of the men who he grew up around. The men who were without a doubt the closest thing to a family Gakidou had, and he thought he would ever have.

Hirou watched the blond go, and only when he was out of sight did he and the entire gang let out long unhappy sighs. One of the men turned to him in attempt to console him, "It had to be done boss. He can't be tied to a group of old timers for the rest of his life."

Hirou nodded, "I know. But that doesn't mean we have to like the way we chose to make him leave."

"You know as well as I do that it was the only way to make him leave and stay away."

* * *

"How could you have lost him Anko?" Kakashi asked surprised with his pupils progress in her mission. It wasn't like Anko to lose track of a target. Especially not when the target could possibly be the son of the Hokage.

Anko scowl deepened and she averted her eyes away from the silver haired shinobi in front of her in favor of staring angrily at her drink. "It's not like I wanted to lose him you know. After Yamamoto gave me my new mission report and told be to stop trying to kill the man I followed him into the woods, but I got ambushed by another ninja from I don't know where and lost his trail. Apparently Gakidou has his own guardian angel, from the way he reacted to me cutting into his fight I would safely guess that he doesn't know about the ninja that attacked me."

"Describe him."

Anko nodded and told Kakashi mostly about the techniques of her attacker rather than his looks. The man had made sure he was well hidden from her. Wearing a full body cloak with sleeves to keep her from seeing even the outfit he wore under it and a simple plain white mask over his face. He used the most basic of jutsu on her too, frustrating Anko with the perfect way he had of blending into even the shinobi world. She doubted that there was anyway she would be able to recognize him even in battle.

"And after your fight?"

"I went back to tell the Skulls that I wouldn't be finishing the mission and when I got to their hideout." Anko broke off, unsure of how to describe the state she had found the gang in. It was chaos, all of their fighting men had been killed mercilessly, torn to shreds by what could have been a jutsu though some of the damage looked like it was done with bare hands. Those that had survived were protecting their families and all said it was Jinmenjuushin no Gakidou but Anko couldn't see how one man could have done that much damage on his own and leave without a trace. "Well there wasn't much left and my employer had been killed. So I started to attempt to hunt down a trail from Gakidou and have wound up with nothing."

Kakashi didn't have to say anything, Anko already knew he was disappointed in her. After all he had taught her everything he knew about tracking and for her to have failed to find a simple bandit was embarrassing. She didn't even want to admit that she couldn't even find the rest of his gang. It wasn't like bandits made it a habit of covering their trails so well that even shinobi couldn't find them.

Anko was beginning to feel like she was back under Orochimaru's tutelage, failing miserably to please her sensei despite how hard she tried, in what should be a relatively simple task. She shuddered, blocking out the memories of her punishments and the pain that lasted for days afterwards. They were memories she didn't want to remember. The only good thing that had come out of it was that the Hokage had found her himself and brought her back to the village after Orochimaru had abandoned her and allowed her to stay. Not branding her as a traitor and let her continue to train as a shinobi this time under the Copy Ninja himself, Hatake Kakashi.

"Listen to the rumors on the road Anko and I think you'll be able to find him again. Don't give up or Sakura and Sai will hold it against you. Sai might hold it against you forever, never letting you forget that you lost track of a simple bandit. Especially after all of that bragging you did when he failed in a simple tracking mission." Kakashi warned, silently letting Anko know that he would remember it it too. She nodded still not looking at him.

"Hai."

* * *

_Challange: 25oo+ words_

_Word Count: 3,266_

**Sorry for the delay guys, took me awile to finish this chapter then I was waiting for False Identity to finish hers, which she hasn't yet so I'll be waiting for her to catch up before I post anymore. I'm only posting becuase she keeps telling me to.**

**Thanks for the reviews and support and keep telling me what you think. Otherwise I'll never know what you all think of the story so far. **

**FalseIdentity's Version: **To be finished soon I hope

**Finished: 5/31/2o1o  
Published: 6/14/2o1o**


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